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Sid Bryan – Knitwear designer
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extiles used in fashion design
Sid Bryan – Knitwear designer
What is your job title? Knitwear designer. Please describe your job. Freelance designer. I go into companies and work on knit, from commercial selling collections through to one-off showpieces. Who have you worked for? Many designers at all levels of the market from high street and technical sportswear through to high-end designers worldwide. What was your career path to your current job?
I wanted to study fine art/painting after my foundation course, but failed to get on to a painting degree. Thankfully I was directed towards textiles where I could utilise all my passion for colour and texture at Buckinghamshire on the BA Textile Design and Surface Decoration course. From there I studied Fashion Knitwear at the Royal College of Art and started working freelance with Bella Freud and Alexander McQueen. From then it snowballed and through word of mouth I met more and more designers.
What do you do on an average day?
There isn’t really an average day. I travel a lot, so when I am back in the office my days are often taken up with administrative work, catching up with paperwork and liaising with suppliers and clients. I might be meeting with a designer to create a brief, brainstorming with my team, drawing, knitting, sampling and creating technical support documents for suppliers. I could be sourcing vintage stitchwork from markets or using a trampoline to create giant plastic doilies. What are your normal working hours?
Endless! I live near my studio so I get up at 6.30am in the morning and work until as late as possible. I work most weekends.
What are the essential qualities needed for your job?
You have to have a certain sort of technical brain to be a knitter and patience is essential as you have to do things over and over again until it’s right. Because I work with so many different designers you need to be able to adjust and work with every sort of personality.
What kind of wage can someone command in your job? You can charge as much as you want, but ultimately you have to get a reputation as being reliable and talented and then decide how much you think that is worth.
How creative a job do you have? Extremely, every time you create a piece of knit you start with a strand, a yarn then through an endless variety of processes you create a sample cloth and with that you then have an endless variety of shapes and forms this can take. There are joyous, really creative bits like knitting with elastic bands for the last Giles show and a lot of boring business and admin bits too. What kind of team do you work with?
I have two full-time assistants who I couldn’t function without and any number of people working with me as and when necessary. Last season we swelled to 12 at its peak. What is the best bit about your job?
I knit, which is what I love and I get to work with amazing, talented people. And the worst?
I travel so much that sometimes I don’t know what day it is and I miss my husband and my dog.
Any advice you would give someone wanting to get a job in your area of fashion? Ultimately you need to have a real passion and talent for what you do. There are no conventional routes, work with people and gain as much experience as you can. You must have a real technical understanding of knitwear and with this
understanding push all the boundaries possible whenever possible. Above all, as with all of the creative industries be nice, be keen, it will go a long way.
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Justine Fox – Colour and fabric trend prediction
AVA•Basics Fashion Design:Textile & Fashion CD308-95 / 4239 2nd Proof
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1 Sid Bryan show piece. 2 Justine Fox colour palettes.
Justine Fox – Colour and fabric trend prediction
What is your job title? Project manager/colourist/fabric editor.
Please describe your job. Working closely with clients to create colour palettes and forward trends for a range of industries including dyestuff, plastics, paints and electronics. I work in conjunction with graphic designers to come up with effective marketing solutions for B2B and B2C. I also oversee production from panel meeting to publishing of the Mix interior colour forecasting book. I identify, collate, style and write interior fabric pages in Mix Future Interiors magazine and I promote the company through presentations and workshops around the world. Who have you worked for? Global Color Research Limited. Clients include DuPont, Clariant, Homebase, KTF Retail, Comex and Addis.
What was your career path to your current job?
Studying Fashion BA at the University of Brighton, working in the fashion industry, interiors and branding, furniture and finally, colour psychology and colour trends. What do you do on an average day?
A lot on client liaison, but it depends on the time of year – the industry is quite seasonal.
What are your normal working hours?
9.30am–6.00pm are contracted, but there is a lot of overtime particularly at the end of projects, when the trade fairs are on and business trips.
What are the essential qualities needed for your job?
A good understanding of colour, diplomacy, stamina, time management and at least basics in design packages.
How creative a job do you have? I would say it’s 40/60 between creative and administrative.
What kind of team do you work with?
A lot of freelancers – we choose the team dependent on the job. What is the best bit about your job?
Travelling, fun clients and the finished product.
And the worst? The hours and pay. Any advice you would give someone wanting to get a job in your area of fashion? Keep up to date on developing trends, go to as many exhibitions and trade shows as possible and be enthusiastic about colour.
Garment construction >
How will you work?
AVA•Basics Fashion Design:Textile & Fashion CD308-95 / 4239 2nd Proof